Purdue will play Oklahoma State in Heart of Dallas Bowl on Jan. 1

Cowboys have nation's No. 5 offense

(File Photo) Purdue defensive tackle Bruce Gaston, center, along with kicker Paul Griggs, left, and offensive tackle Chuck Ayres hoist the Old Oaken Bucket after defeating Indiana 56-35 in an NCAA college football game in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Purdue's football team will play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl in Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Purdue University accepted an invitation to play in the Jan. 1 Heart of Dallas Bowl on Sunday against Oklahoma State, giving the Boilermakers one more opportunity to finish a disappointing football season on a positive note.

The game, which will be played in the historic Cotton Bowl Stadium, will be televised by ESPNU at 11 a.m. on New Year's Day. The Boilermakers (6-6, 3-5 Big Ten) will face the Big 12's Cowboys (7-5, 5-4), who were ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 until losing their last two games to Oklahoma and Baylor.

Each team will receive a bowl payout of $1.1 million.

"It's going to be a great experience," said Purdue interim head coach Patrick Higgins. "We can't wait to start the day off against a quality opponent."

Quarterback Robert Marve said the Boilermakers are determined to extend their three-game winning streak with a second-consecutive bowl victory.

"It's been a roller-coaster year," said Marve, a sixth-year senior who has continued to play despite tearing knee ligaments for the third time of his college career on Sept. 8 at Notre Dame. "Having this opportunity now is a blessing. We kind of got the ball moving a little bit with the three games we've won in a row.

"There's no other way we want to go out than with a win."

Higgins, who took over the program after Danny Hope was fired one week ago, said the team will begin practicing for the bowl game on Tuesday and will space out another 15 practices between now and the New Year's Day contest.

"It's nice that we get a longer time to prepare because we can watch all the film and we can kind of approach it as a spring ball deal," said Higgins. "We have such a long time frame before the game we can really work on getting back to fundamentals."

With Ohio State and Penn State ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA sanctions, the Boilermakers were expected to challenge Wisconsin for the Leaders Division spot in the Big Ten championship game. But after a 3-1 start, Purdue lost its first five conference games and slipped to 3-6.

Moving back into the starting lineup, Marve helped the Boilermakers win close games at Iowa (27-24) and at Illinois (20-17) and then led them to a blowout victory over rival Indiana (56-35) at Ross-Ade Stadium.

"Things got rough and the bad times were there for us this year, and we haven't forgotten those times," said Marve, who will have knee surgery for the third time in four years after the bowl game.

Like Purdue, Oklahoma State has had a revolving door at quarterback because of injuries. Junior Clint Chelf has shared the job with freshmen J.W. Walsh and Wes Lunt with the three combining to pass for 3,965 yards and 29 touchdowns. Junior running back Joseph Randle has rushed for 1350 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The Cowboys, who were ranked No. 22 just three weeks ago, have the nation's No. 5 offense, averaging 548.92 yards per game.

Purdue last played in consecutive bowl games after the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

The invitation means Purdue will be in a bowl game for the second consecutive season. Last year the Boilermakers defeated Western Michigan 37-32 in the Little Caesar's Bowl in Detroit. The last time Purdue played in consecutive bowl games were the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Purdue has played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium twice before, beating Texas A&M 24-23 in 1967 and tying Southern Methodist 14-14 in 1965.